Explanations
by lindyrb
Summary: Moonlight.  MickBeth, 1x07.  Beth doesn't know Mick was the one who saved her as a child.  So what happens when he has no choice but to tell her...


**Explanations**

_After "The Ringer" (1x07) we got confirmation that Beth really doesn't know that a)Mick is the one who rescued her, b)Coraline, his former wife is the woman who kidnapped her, and c)the reason Mick killed Coraline was in order to rescue her. Since we now know Coraline/Morgan is bound to show back up, and since Beth knows that that her rescue involved a woman, a fire and a guy who rescued her, I figure it's just a matter of time time she puts it all together. Mick's secrecy may come back to (pardon the pun) bite him in the butt._

_Here's one scenario I though would be a hoot...feel free to write your own!_

* * *

Mick strode up to Beth's apartment door and knocked. She'd asked him earlier today to swing by to look at some crime scene photos she'd picked up. Once he'd dropped off a Report of Findings with his client for a case he just closed, he'd headed to Beth's.

The door swung open and Beth smiled in greeting. "Hey! Come on in. I want you to meet someone. I wasn't expecting her, but…"

As they rounded the corner into her living room, Mick stopped dead in his tracks and felt his stomach drop. The woman standing there looked as shocked to see him as he was to see her.

"Mick, I want you to meet my Mom. She lives up in Portland now, but she's here for the weekend since she has a business meeting in the area on Monday…" Beth suddenly noticed that the other two occupants of the room were staring, slack jawed at each other.

"Mom? Mick?" Beth looked from one to the other in confusion. "What's wrong? Do you know each other?"

"It's impossible," whispered the older woman. "You look so much like….but that's not possible. He'd be in his 50s now. "

"Shit," muttered Mick under his breath. A million possible excuses ran thru his head but nothing that he figured both women would buy.

"Beth," he said quietly, turning to her, "remember the other day when we were talking and I mentioned that there were still things I needed to explain….about Coraline and why Josef and I felt Morgan was such a threat?"

"Yeah," nodded Beth with a puzzled look. "You said you'd come by this evening , but what does that have to do with…"

Mick reached out and took her hand as he took a deep breath. "Beth, remember after the incident with Morgan? I told you about our suspicions and I asked you what you remembered from the night you were abducted?"

Getting more confused by the minute, Beth nodded her head and looked at her mother who was still staring at Mick. "Yes, and I told you….there was a woman, a fire, and some guy who saved me and took me home to my parents. I really don't remember any more than that."

Mick pitched his voice so that only she could hear him. "Beth, so help me, I didn't want to do it like this. .. the woman who took you….was Coraline. The guy who took you home….the one your parents met with and hired to rescue you…."

"..was you, wasn't it," Beth whispered, finally put the pieces together. "Oh my God, Mick….that was the night, the fire…..you killed Coraline to save me, didn't you."

Nodding, Mick squeezed her hand and glanced to the side at the now middle-aged woman who had tearfully thanked him 22 years ago for the rescue of her young daughter. He also felt the moment Beth realized the situation. Her eyes flashed to his, uncertain of what to say to her mother.

Still holding hands, the two of them turned to face the stunned woman who had sunk into a spot on the couch, never moving her eyes from Mick's face.

"I don't understand," she repeated. "You're name is Mick? Mick St. John?"

Making a split second decision, Mick gave her a big smile and turned on his legendary charm. "Yes, Mrs. Turner, I'm Mick St. John. It's nice to meet you."

"But," sputtered the woman, "you can't be. You'd have to be more than 50 years old. You were 30 when you rescued Beth from the kidnapper."

Widening his eyes as though surprised, Mick played his role. "Oh! Beth mentioned that a PI was involved in her rescue when she was little. It might have been my dad. He was a PI and everybody says how much I look like he did. He handled a lot of missing person cases in his time. I took over the firm when he died a few years back. Car accident."

"Wow," exclaimed Beth, following his lead, "What a small world! I never made the connection before. Mom, did you ever even tell me the name of the guy who rescued me?"

"I…I don't know," her mother said, "it's not something we really ever discussed." Glancing at the handsome man in front of her who was obviously special to her daughter, she gave him a little smile, and stood up again. "Well, it's very nice to meet you, Mick. We were very grateful to your father. We never really got to say 'thank you' properly. The night he rescued Beth, he just showed up and dropped her off then left. He never even cashed the check we sent."

"Really!" mused Beth, still trying to process everything she'd learned in the last few minutes. Looking at Mick, she murmured, "He must have been a very good man."

Humbled, he looked at Beth, seeing not the anger or recrimination he had feared, but acceptance and feelings they had yet to admit, shining from her eyes. With a small smile just for her, he cleared his throat.

"Well, I'm sure he was glad he could help. Listen, Beth, I don't want to interrupt your visit with your Mom. Just give me a call and we'll take a look at those photos later."

Taking the hint, Beth nodded. "Sure! Mom's got to drive down to San Diego tomorrow morning, so we can get together tomorrow afternoon."

"Nice to have met you, Mrs. Turner ," he said with a smile.

"You, too, Mick," Beth's mother said with a sincere smile.

Beth walked Mick to the door and followed him into the hallway outside. Pulling her door closed behind her, she glanced down the hall, ensuring they were alone.

"I can't believe you never told me," she exclaimed quietly. "I mean, when I thought I recognized you, you told me I'd hit my head! Even when you told me about killing Coraline, you neglected to mention why!"

"I never lied to you," replied Mick, knowing his excuse sounded weak.

Beth rolled her eyes. "No, but you didn't exactly tell me the whole truth either, did you?"

Mick looked down at his feet and sighed. He'd known that eventually he'd have to tell Beth the whole truth and, in fact, had planned to tell her this evening. He'd hadn't wanted her to hear it from anyone else first. He was surprised when he suddenly felt Beth wrap her arms around him and press a kiss to his cheek.

"You're a very complicated man, Mick St. John," she sighed.

Wrapping his arms around her, Mick felt a wave of relief. "I'm sorry, Beth. I was going to tell you." Taking a moment to just enjoy the feel of their arms around each other, Mick dropped a gentle kiss on the top of her head.

"Are we ok?"

Beth smiled and looked up at him. "Yeah, we're ok."

Mick smiled and released her, turning to leave. "Give me a call tomorrow. I need to finish telling you the whole story."

She nodded and moved to go back inside her apartment. "I'll hold you to that. And Mick?"

"Yeah?"

"You are a very good man."


End file.
